Teaching The Bonfire of the Vanities | Daily Lessons

Daily Lessons

This section contains 30 daily lessons. Each one has a specific objective and offers at least three (often more) ways to teach that objective. Lessons include classroom discussions, group and partner activities, in-class handouts, individual writing assignments, at least one homework assignment, class participation exercises and other ways to teach students about the text in a classroom setting. Use some or all of the suggestions provided to work with your students in the classroom and help them understand the text.

Lesson 1

Objective: In the Prologue of the novel, the mayor is heckled and nearly attacked by an angry mob of blacks and Hispanics who shout anti-Semitic slurs at him. The mayor fears this public attack will mar his chances for reelection. This introduces the idea of race-relations as a political tool, a central theme in the novel. The objective of this lesson is to discuss the...
(read more)